Knitted fabric



April 21.1942. b. P, MQQRE 2,280,536

` KNITTED 'FABRIC 2 shuts-sheet 1 Filed Nov. 12, 1940 AspfiZ, 1942. D. P. MOQRE 2,280,536r

KNITTED FABRIC Filed Nov. l2, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'INVENTOR Patented Apr.: 2l, 1942 UNITEDl STATES PATENT oFF-ICE KNITTED FABRIC David Pelton Moore, Avon Park, Fla. Application November 12, 1940, Serial No. 365,388

(ci. s6-191) 7 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in knitted fabrics, one object of the invention.

being the provision of a fabric in which both faces -such as wool, worsted, cotton, rayon, linen and any combination thereof may be used as the base and during theknitting thereof to form the-basic knitted, such as a jersey, web, short loose fibersl are incorporated therewith during the knitting operation, so that the web is completely hidden, and so that when a. cross-section of the fabric is taken, the knitted yarn forms a layer adjacent the middle of the fabric, as a streak of lean in bacon, thus providing a protecting means for the same.

Still another object of the present linvention is the provision of a knitted fabric which may be used as taken from the machine. finished thereafter in a pile, a ribbed, a loose matted doublefaced fabric, or a felted surfaced fabric, as well as fabrics of extreme light and heavy weights.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a knitted fabric, which can be so knitted on the machine and have short fabric are fllled and to a desired thickness upon both faces of the fabric. It is also an inherent quality of this fabric that .the-free ends of the short loose fibers held by the loop upon its initial needle will during the knitting operation, be positioned so as to be intermeshed with the next succeeding needle in the next row, and where the bers are sufficiently long, the final free ends thereof will extend to and be knitted in with the third needle of the third row of wales, so that the direction of trend of the tuft of short loose fibers is upwardly in a zig-zag direction, so as to in effect provide a substantially inherent non-stretch means, without the introduction of an extra non-stretch yarn, which, however, in some fabrics 1is desirable. Thus'also the knitted in and intertwined short loosebers provide, when the fabric is finished and napped, a double-faced fabric in which the knitted web with its wales are completely covered and hidden, and the appearance of a knitted fabric disappears.

loose fibers so commingled with the basic yarn during the knitting operation as to provide when finished, a substantially non-stretchable fabric.

In order that the construction of this fabric may be fully understood and its advantages appreciated, the method of making the same will be set forth in the sequence of the-various steps needle machine is here employed, it is to be understood that a flat bed latch needle Amachine may. also be used.

The present fabric is an improvement upon the fabrics as set forth in applicants U. S. Patents Nos. 1,791,741 and 1,994,482, in that it produces a fabric in which the free ends of the short loosev fibers insteadof assuming a pile effect as in the said mentioned patents, have their free ends disposed about the base of the adjacent Wale or loop, so as to substantially encircle that portion and cover the rear face of the fabric. In this manner, the interstices of the In the accompanying drawings- Figures 1 and la are diagrammatic views showthe knitting point has produced a stitch or loop.

Figures 5 and 5a show the next step after the outwardly rotating -brush has acted upon the needle held fibers.

Figures 6 and 6v show the step of wiping the l external lap or untwisted yarn formed from the outwardly brushed bers.

Figure 6b is a top plan view showing the position the fibers assume as wrapped about .the

shanks of the needles by the inwardly rotating wiping brush. l

Figure 7 is a. side view showing a means of pressing the loops down upon the Shanks of the needles to insure the proper seating thereof and insuring the holding of the latches.

Figure 8 is a section through a series of needles to illustrate how the fibers present themselves on the shanks `of the needles after the nal` brush action of Figs. 6, 6 and 6b.

Figure 9 is a. plan view of a piece of the fabric showing the main face.

Figure is an enlarged vertical sectionof a portion of the fabric as shown in Fig. 9, illustrating schematically the loops, short loose fibers and the rolls made from the latter.

Figure 11 is a view similar to Fig. 9 of the opposite face of the fabric.

Figure 12 is a diagrammatic view on an enlarged scale showing the basic web minus the short loose fibers, illustrating the positioning of the non-stretch yarn in conjunction with the loops or stitches.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral designates latch needles, which as shown in Figs. 1 and 1*, are passing through and being filled with short loose fibers a, delivered to them by the brush 2|, which is a member of a fiber feeding attachment'operated in synchrony with the needie carrying cylinder, not shown. Thus a tuft or small brush a is set in the hook of each needle. During the movement of the needles, in the direction of the arrow, they pass below a fiber setand as the brush is rotated inwardly, the loose or free ends of the fibers overlaying the Shanks of the needles are wiped inwardly and project upon the inner face of the fabric, and so that the rear or outer face, is more firmly clothed,1the edge of the fabric appearing somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 8, except that more free ends are upon the inside than upon the outside of the cylinder.

The fabric as illustrated in Figs. 9, 10 and l1, is just as it comes from the machine, and it will be noted that the short loose fibers (a single ber being shown in Fig. 12 with the bowed portion locked in the loop and its terminals a and b following the courses there shown) where anchored in one row of stitches or loops 33, form the base for the rolls 34, formed by the free ends of such held fibers, the free ends being brushed so that they commingle with the next row of stitches, and

ting bridge -2l, which causes the tufts to be bent or laid rearwardly and downwardly, thus form ing a mat or untwisted yarn and causing the free ends of the needle-held bers of the previous needle to overlap the following and sometimes the several following needles. In this position, the needles approach the point to receive the yarn 30 to form the next stitch, the yarn just taken within the hook of the needle entering below the bent portion of the tuft, then in the hook,

needle is moved upwardly at this point, the loop and fibers upon the needle are positioned below the latch which has been opened as is usual during thelmiovement of the needle. Also while this action is takingl place, the outwardly rotating wiper or brush 26, wipes the fibers held by the needles, so that the free ends thereof are wiped outwardly between the needles (Figs. 3 and 4),

to be engaged later on by the fixed wiper or soft brush 21, which causes the free ends of the fibers to extend rearwardly on the outside of the shanks of the needles (Figs. 5 and 5B), so that a mat or substantially untwisted yarn is formed above the upper outer rim of the cylinder and on the hook side of the needles. The completed fabric is then taken from the machine, in the usual manner and form, is fulled, before or after splitting the tube, and is then carried through the desired and necessary steps to produce the required finish, viz: blanket, ski or snow cloth, pile on one face and nap on the other, felted on one or both faces, but in each and every case, the knitted web formed by the yarn will be entirely covered so that the knitted structure is concealed.

If the fabric is merely fulled, the fibers present on the face, that is the face toward the center of the cylinder in a latch needle machine as here described, a series of transverse ribs, which run therefore, at right-angles to the needle formed wales, so that a fabric particularly 'desirable for mats, rugs, carpets, upholstery results.

To produce a heavy pile face, the brush or fingered device 28, Figs. 6, 6a and 6b, is added;

' have and then the-faces may be finished in any generally to the needle next succeeding. In this manner,'the free ends of the loose fibers are thus-anchored in the next stitches, and where the free ends are sufficiently long they may be carried even into the next succeeding row or rows of stitches. Thus the rolls 34, though formed individually by and at each needle are contiguous with the next succeeding rolls to produce in appearance a solid roll transversely of thev fabric when the fabric is split, but spirally when in the knitting machine. Thus these rolls appear to be in parallel rows, which rows are at right angles to the rows 35 of stitches or loops, as shown in Fig. 11. j

In Fig. 12, the non-stretch yarn, or rather the stretch lessening or preventing yarn ,is. anchored at every fourth needle to produce the knitted-ln and held short fibers, previousto the selection of the anchoring points of the stretch preventing yarn. f

This particular fabric when taken from the machine, can-be fulled either in tube or split form, and the more it is f ulled, that is more,

closely shrunk, the less stretch the Vfabric will desired manner.

Various weights of fabrics can be be made bythis method, the finer the needles and the more to the inch, and the size of yam, with the proportionate amount of the short loose fibers, will determine the weight. of the fabric. It has been found in practice .with a 10 cut 24 gauge needle having an 18 gauge hook, that the fabric will comprise 25 to 27% yarn and the remainder the short loose fibers, namely to 73% short loose fibers.

-In many cases. the take-up generally carried by knitting machines is too' light and too narrow for properly taking up this fabric, and it has been found that the rolls thereof should be say in a 26 inch cylinder not less than 34 inches wide. ,This is due to the fact that the short loose fibers add ,to the knitted web suilicient body to increase the width of the fabric during the knitting operation.

To assist in the take-up and insure that the loops or wales are as far down upon the needles as the take-up should hold them. it may be desirable to employ the rotating disk 29, which acts upon the fabricjust before the action shown in Figs. 5 and 5*, and sometimes after the action shown in Figs. 6 and 6*.

The rotating member 28 may be a brush, or

it may be in the form of a series of spil-ally ar-v liar method that a fabric of special characteristics results, that is a fabric in which the yarn vforming the loops or stitches is substantially covered during the knitting operation; and which when shrunk by fulling. can be given any desirable nish, customary with woven fabrics,.and further that the knitted characteristics so apparent in knitted fabrics do not 'appear to the user of this present fabric.

The surfaces of this fabric may be given many types of finishrwith the result that this fabric lends itself to uses for outer garments. blankets, underwear, furs, and oor coverings. Also that where desirable cotton yarn can displace wool, while the short loose bers may be of wool, linen, cotton, silk and/or rayon.

This application is a. continuation in part of the abandoned application led August 12, 1937, Serial No. 158,667, and the claims are based on the application led April 10, 1939, -Serial No. 267,107.

What is claimed isi 1.A A knitted fabric composed of yarn an mingle with the yarn so that at each loop a U' shaped portion is formed with the short loose bers while the terminals of` the U lay co-extensive with each other and span the next course of loops to be engaged and held inplace by the next succeeding needle formed loop in the next' succeeding course of loops.

2. A knitted fabric as claimed in claim 1, in which the portions of the loose bersbetween their anchoring points form courses of rows of rolls upon one face of the fabric.

3. A knitted fabric as claimed in claim 1. in which an additional strand of yarn is so knitted in with certain courses of loops and with certain of the loops in such course as to present` short straight lengths of yarn extending a greater distance than the distance between two or more adjacent loops.

4. A knitted fabric composed of yarn and short loose bers. so knitted together that the short loose bers substantiallyI cover the yarn and provide externally projecting parallel rows of rolled short loose bers vupon one face of the fabric.

5. A knitted fabric as claimed in claim 4, wherein the projecting rows are at right angles to the normal loop lines of the fabric.

short loose bers and in which the yarn forms the basic web while the short loose bers corn- 6. A knitted fabric as claimed in claim 4, wherein the projecting rows of bers are parallel but between the courses of loops.

7. A knitted fabric as claimed in claim 4, wherein the projecting rows of bers are parallel but between the courses of loops and are anchored in the connectingportions of adjacent;v courses of loops.

DAVID P\ELTON MOORE. 

